2024 F1 champion Max Verstappen is fired up after winning the Qatar Grand Prix. Initially, it was the Red Bull star who was supposed to start the race from the pole position. However, the stewards intervened following an incident with George Russell during the qualifying rounds. The Dutchman was driving slowly on the racetrack, which caught Russell off-guard and interfered with his qualifying run.

The Mercedes driver took evasive action that forced him into the gravel. “Maybe that’s the reason we didn’t improve—I don’t know, but it was a bit of a hairy one, two corners before we started the lap.” Russell thought that it might just have cost his timed lap and potentially his pole position for the race.

Well, the stewards did talk with the two drivers, and Verstappen was handed a one-spot penalty for driving slowly ahead of his Q3 attempt.

Max Verstappen didn’t expect George Russell to turn against him

Now, this decision seemed to have fired up the Red Bull driver, and his only objective was to get better of his rival at the start of the race. We all know what happened after that, but nobody expected Max Verstappen to go ballistic against the Mercedes driver in the post-race interview.

The details about what happened during the meeting haven’t been disclosed, but it’s fair to say that Verstappen didn’t like how Russell acted during the meeting. Taking direct shots at his rival, the Red Bull star after winning the Qatar Grand Prix said, “I was quite surprised when sitting in the steward’s room, what was all going on. It was honestly very disappointing because I think all of us here respect each other a lot.”

Verstappen argued his case and explained that in no way he was trying to hinder Russell’s qualifying lap. However, the stewards weren’t sold on his explanation, and his rival trying to sabotage his pole win just shook him to his core. “I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life and my career with people that I’ve raced. And I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard. For me, I lost all respect.”

It’s fair to say that the Dutch driver had the last laugh. Not only the driver but Red Bull team engineer joined the party and aimed a dig at George Russell and Mercedes after his driver clinched the victory in Qatar. “Okay, mate, karma is a wonderful thing. Definitely did not drive necessarily slowly today; great job.” Verstappen’s race engineer, Lambiase, said over team radio.

Well, Verstappen certainly used the penalty as motivation and channeled it during the race. Team boss Christian Horner knew that his driver was locked in and was going to set the tone of the race from the get-go.

Things were tense between Verstappen and Russell ahead of the Qatar GP

Most of the drivers on the grid would have a laid-back approach to the rest of the two races after winning the biggest prize in Formula 1. However, Max Verstappen is a different beast, one that is competitive and aims for nothing but a win when he steps on the racetrack. He certainly felt that he needed to respond against Russell after what transpired in the driver’s meeting.

Red Bull boss Horner, while speaking to Sky Sports, mentioned that the two drivers exchanged words ahead of the race. Interestingly, Verstappen told Russell that he was going to get past him on the first corner, and well, he certainly stuck by his words. “He was annoyed with George and the way things played out in front of the stewards yesterday. And he carried that motivation into the race.

“I think you could sense that George kind of sensed that as well. I think there was a little bit of a moment between the two of them on the trailer as they go around the circuit, that Max felt that things just went a bit too far yesterday,” Horner added. It will be interesting to see how this rivalry shapes up and if George Russell responds during the Abu Dhabi race.